October will see Dizzee Rascal in Cardiff’s Utilita Arena, celebrating 20 years since Boy In Da Corner, his prodigal debut album, was released. The East London genre-bending MC has travelled between grime, garage, pop and more since those early days, so it’s time for India Munday to select his top five tracks from that two-and-a-bit-decade span.
1. I Luv U
At the tender age of 16, Dizzee – aka Dylan Mills – wrote one of the most iconic debut singles of all time. Following its initial underground release in 2002, it appeared again on first album Boy In Da Corner, a groundbreaking record that ended up winning the young MC the 2003 Mercury Prize. A filthy bassline along with a he-says-she-says structure, I Luv U tackles a taboo topic of underage sex, with female vocals coming from Jeanine, a girl known locally to Dizzee at the time. “That girl’s from school, that girl’s from college, that girl gives brains, that girl gives knowledge,” Diz spits, over a rhythmically avant-garde beat that set up his grime-royalty career for life.
2. Fix Up Look Sharp
OOOOOIIIIII!!! It’sFix Up Look Sharp, another belter from …Da Corner. Sampling Billy Squier’s The Big Beat and adding in a couple “woo!”s, the track oozes classic Dizzee rudeboy self-confidence: “Feel free to hate cos I ain’t tryna be your mate, be serious, you wouldn’t last an hour in my shoes…”The track exhibits Dizzee’s musical influences, with the artist admitting in a Complex interview that he was into rock before hip-hop. “It was moshpits that got me excited about music, not breakdancing.”
3. Dance Wiv Me
Pre-2008, if you’d told a grime fan that Dizzee Rascal would create a class party track with electro DJ Calvin Harris (and r’n’b singer Chrome, too), they would have laughed in your face. But in came Dance Wiv Me, a ludicrously upbeat song with pop choruses that just worked so well. Although it’s far from the MC’s urban roots, the single from the Tongue N’ Cheek album swiftly ascended to the top spot on the charts, not only making it his first number one but staying there for four weeks.
4. Ghost
Following Tongue N’ Cheek and 2013’s The Fifth, Dizzee’s sixth studio album Raskit (2017) brushed off the commercial production and choruses of its two predecessors, leaning back into the artist’s grime roots. Named after the alternative alias Dizzee used on earlier records, for me the highlight of Raskit was Ghost. An eerie-sounding flute sample – from an Israeli navy band of all things – backs lyrics with heavy topics, including hints to that infamous stabbing, around the time of Boy In Da Corner’s release, that set off the longlasting Dizzee-versus-Wiley beef.
5. Jezebel
I had to circle it back to the record that started it all to finalise this list, especially as practically every track on this album is perfection in my eyes. Jezebel, particularly, proves Dizzee’s impeccable storytelling skills, spinning a dark tale about another sexually promiscuous young female (aka ‘jezzy’), and her downfall. “Went from daddy’s little girl to daddy’s heart attack,” the kingpin spits on top of pizzicato strings, with bars about teenage pregnancy and even herpes following in tow – who knew a song about STDs could go so hard? Some may think this is a problematic song (there are undeniably misogynistic themes lurking), but for my money, Jezebel sums up the debut album well: raw, uninhibited lyrics on top of a unique sonic soundscape.
Dizzee Rascal, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Sat 7 Oct.
Tickets: £65. Info: here
words INDIA MUNDAY